NOTE: This is The Column, a regular feature on Apolyton where anyone can write about anything to do with Civilization or the gaming industry as a whole. If you feel like writing, please visit the article submission page.

PREVIOUS ARTICLES

185# MOO3 AND CIV3, SUPPLIES AND TACTICS Two articles: a comparison of moo3 and civ3, and an idea on unit supplies 184# GAMES I'VE GOT BUT HAVE YET TO "GET" Sometimes things dont turn out good when you buy a game... 183# CIV2'S HEGELIAN TECH TREE Civ2 is not just another game, and LotM shows it's historical side 182# FEAR AND LOATHING IN BACH'S CATHEDRAL Bugs visits a world of wonders 181# CHARACTERS / GRAPHICS 2 articles, 1 subject: civ3... COLUMN ARCHIVE

Like so many of us, I have played civilization games of one type or another for many years. Starting with Civilization, I soon moved to its sequel Civ2, and more recently to CTP. However, I was not the fanatic player so many seem to be, I never finished Civ above Prince or Civ2 above King. What really fascinated me was the prospect of modification. I was most excited when I discovered the rules files in Civ2 which offered so much possibility for change. After a few badly thought out or crude scenarios, I did finally make a fairly professional Mars scenario, which I have played a few times as a network game against friends who live nearby. Mostly, though, the more I worked, the more I realised that there were many more things which should have been changeable, but were not, like the number and effects of improvements and wonders, and the absurd location-specific unit abilities, like "Only the unit in the second slot can build tile improvements at double speed like an engineer". But, to the best of my knowledge, Civ2 was the pioneer in modifiable turn-based strategy games, so I forgive its inadequacies.

When I got Call to Power, I hadn't even finished my first game before I was searching for the rules files, and to this day I never have finished any single player game of CTP under the default rules. At first files for which I sought were nowhere to be found, but after a while they revealed themselves, tucked away in the third directory down. At first I was overjoyed - surely with this much data at my fingertips there was nothing I couldn't change - but soon, after a little experimentation, I was dismayed. It seemed impossible to change anything without a dozen knock-on effects which required the modification of more and more files to compensate.

At this point I abandoned turn-based games completely and played Starcraft for a year, which may seem unrelated, but is not. Starcraft has the best map editor I have known to come with any game, although it does sometimes seem to require too many clicks for a simple task it is logical, consistent and complete. This restored my interest in modification, and naturally I proceeded to make a campaign.

I was pulled back into the Civilization genre by my discovery of the Apolyton site, and in particular the MedMod for CTP. Most see this work as an astonishing effort to create "CTP as it should be" and perhaps a little more on top, but for me it was simple inspiration, and also a wonderful example of how to go about CTP modification. I now saw that the CTP rules system - far from being obfuscating and confusing - was actually done extremely well, as soon as you grasped the basic concepts the whole fell into place. It is only the frequent inconsistencies that emerge on closer inspection - presumably a result of the later development of the game - that make it overly complex.

So inspired, I set about my work with a vengeance - determined to create the scenario I had envisioned when modifying Civ2, and now after about 600 hours of work, it is nearly complete - but the victory is bittersweet, for now Civ3 is not only on the horizon, but almost upon us.

As has been the case with so many of my efforts it seems now that it was too much, too late and that none (or at best very few) will appreciate it, due not only to the onset of Civ3, but the general antipathy towards Activision and the fact that I am still unable to make the AI work without crashing the game.

But I have learnt from the experience, and I realise that no matter how flexible the rules there are always things left by the game designers which will frustrate the would-be modifiers. I will not be getting a copy of Civ3 soon because the system requirements are too high, but I hope most fervently for the sake of all prospective modifiers that you have an easier time than I, and that many improvements and variations on the game will keep people playing it for many years to come. I recommend modification to one and all, for I know of no greater satisfaction than finally tracking down a bug which has been plaguing your work for days.

As for me, until I buy myself a better computer my only recourse is FreeCiv. Perhaps my next project will be to create FreeCTP, and fix the problems which seem to cause such consternation among the playing community.

The long term life of games such as Doom, Quake and Half-life depended almost entirely upon their modifiability, and I have no doubt that the same will be (or is) true of the turn-based strategy genre. So happy modification and I look forward to playing your creations.